Winter
by Slayer Z
Summary: Two fairies, one out for adventure and the other exiled. Can they stop a new dark threat looming over Hyrule, or will the cold of winter choke their lives away..?
1. Prologue

Hello all and welcome to my first LOZ fanfiction! This one's about fairies, what a concept huh? Well, it starts out slow, so if you want ACTION and ADVENTURE, you'll have to wait a few chapters. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Nintendo or Zelda...'cept my fairies.

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On earth, there are four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. These four seasons all come one after the other, in the same order every year. These times of year, however, are very much different from each other. In spring, everything is born and flourishes. Flowers bloom and birds sing their sweet songs, while the leaves on the tree grow and the branches sway in the warm breeze. In summer, grass blows in the wind and children come out to play. The sun shines brightly on the earth and the water sparkles invitingly. In fall, the leaves begin to fall off and change color. The harvest is gathered and grass slowly begins to die. And finally in winter, everything becomes white and dies. The cold grasps at every corner and ice forms over the once inviting water. Then everything starts over again, following the cycle of life.

In the Lost Woods, it is springtime once again. Flowers part their petals and bees and hummingbirds begin to suck the sweet nectar. New life blossoms once more, welcoming the sight of the green earth with open eyes. And the children of the forest await the new entities that enter the forest every spring, arising from the flowers themselves. Fairies emerge from the beautiful petals and immediately begin flapping their insect-like wings. Then they fly to the tree, placed at the end of the woods. Here, the tree begins to assign the fairies to the newborn forest children. Finally, the fairy is to introduce himself or herself to their new "master" and spark a friendship. For every child there is a fairy – no more, no less. However, there is a story of one incident that happened not too long ago: a guardian fairy that had no child to protect and advice. Now, most fairies that have no child to protect simply go into the Lost Woods till next year, when more children show up.

But this fairy was different. He wouldn't wait until next year to just get put down again. And he would not allow himself to wander endlessly through the forest and woods, showing people how to get through them like other fairies did. No, he wanted to see the world and explore the expanses of this earth. The Great and wise Tree, however, would not allow him to do so. It was forbidden to leave the Kokiri Forest without special business of some sort. But the fairy would not allow himself to be denied, so he planned to steal away. And so our story begins on a dark and dreary night, when even the once inviting and tranquil forest is eerie and foreboding.

* * *

Thunder peals across the sky and thunder booms over the roofs of so many huts down on earth. Heavy rain pelts the ground and animals seeking shelter. It is a dark night, with no activity outside save the storm that has been brewing for days on end. Now it is unleashed with all its might, delivering blow after blow to the earth, like a punishment for an unspoken crime. Fairies hide under their children's garments, hoping to shield themselves from the droplets that hit like cement. But there is one fairy, hovering over the drenched soil in the open rain, as if nothing were happening around him. He stands out in the darkness around him, a green dot on the large canvas of endless black. The only indication that he is still alive is the fact that he is trembling, a soft, powdery material falling to the ground as he does so. This is commonly referred to as fairy dust, though really all it is are the scales from the fairies wings falling as he moves rapidly up and down, flapping his wings.

The green fairy makes his way over to a nearby tree, trying to hide under one of its many branches. But another flash of lightning bolts across the sky and the fairy decides against the idea.

"Great," he groans in his high-pitched voice. He sighs and rubs his forehead, the rain still falling around him and occasionally hitting him square on, causing him to fall to the ground. The fairy then decides to stay safely on the soil, to avoid being knocked out of the air again. On his feet he wears moccasins to protect himself from the cold, and on his body his attire is that of a traveler. He is wrapped in a long cloth, which flows down to the ground and well beyond his feet. All of these are, of course, a green color to make the light which surrounds him seem even brighter and greener than it should be. Almost as if the green aura around him was a protective sort of shield. The rain is a constant remind, however, that it is nothing more than light. His hair, however, is different. It is a dark black, blending in nicely with the ominous night. It reaches just past his ears and down to the back of his neck, where it finally touches the beginning of his green cloak.

"Just great," he groans again, looking around the desolate area. "Not even one day out of the forest and I'm already stuck in bad weather, with nothing to eat and no shelter! Maybe I should rethink this whole adventure thing." The male fairy begins to pace, deep in thought. Another large drop of rain hits the fairy in the head, drenching him with water. He begins to shiver, his teeth chatter and he wraps his arms around himself to keep warm. Another loud boom of thunder rings throughout the great plain and the fairy decides to seek shelter for the night.

A green light making its way across the large plain is all that can be seen by the human eye as the fairy sets off. He soon finds a nearby hole in the ground, underneath some bushes and weeds. He peers in, cautiously, trying to make out any sort of image in the darkness of the hole. The natural light that surrounds his body is of little help and because of the bushes, the flashes of lightning prove to be useless. Taking a deep breath, the fairy begins to flutter his damp and slightly weakened wings and descends into the darkness of the mysterious hole.

And almost immediately, the fairy regrets his decision to enter. The sight that has met his eyes is almost too much to bear. His greenish-aura provides little lighting, but it is enough to see the terrible image in front of him. The fairy's face contorts into a look of pure horror and his wings immediately cease flapping. He rapidly falls and hits the bottom, landing on moist ground. But never once does his gaze leave the sight in front of him, a few feet away. Only when he faints, do his eyes leave the gruesome picture, lying right there - the dead body of a child who attempted to leave the forest and didn't get very far.

A dead child whose fairy was Seditio's best friend.

* * *

The Great Deku Tree stared at the yellow fairy hovering in front of him as she told her story. This fairy went by the name of Gwen, and the child she had been watching over was named Jack. These two had always been close and Jack had always listened to Gwen's advice and tried to stick as close as he could to her words. But, a few days ago it seemed, Jack had suddenly woke up one morning very early and decided to pack some of his belongings. Soon thereafter, he had taken off and left the forest, vanishing behind the long line of trees that marked the only entrance and exit into the forest. None of the other children ever heard from him again. His fairy, Gwen, had taken off after him, doing her best to stop him and warn him about the dangers he faced and the inevitable fact that he would die. But Jack would not let anything stop him and smacked his fairy right out of the air and onto the ground below, where she was left, unconscious. After that, she had returned to tell the Great Deku Tree of the incident, but even when all the fairies had been sent to look for him, all came back with neither a lead nor any sort of information. And now Gwen was sent to the Great Tree and was to be punished for her failure.

"Gwen the fairy, you have failed in your duty to protect the child assigned to you," the Great Deku Tree boomed, multiple green leaves falling from their branches as he spoke. The yellow fairy in front of him merely hovered in her place, shaking in fright and hanging her head in shame.

"Is this not true?" The Great Deku Tree asked making sure she was aware of her mistake. The yellow fairy nodded, bobbing up and down slightly. "Then you are aware of your mistake and know that you must be punished for it. Are you in agreement?"

"Yes, Great Deku Tree. I know of my failure and know that I must compensate for it by being punished," Gwen finally answered in a small, timid voice. The Great Tree sighed and began his next sentence in a very grim tone.

"Gwen, for letting a child of the forest leave and allowing the child to be killed once outside the forest's boundaries, I sentence you to exile. You are no longer accepted in the forest. You will now reside in the Lost Woods, helping all those who seek directions to redeem yourself for this terrible crime."

Gwen began to tremble horribly, tears streaming down from her eyes and dirtying her face and reddening her cheeks. She immediately took flight and set off for the wood log that would lead her to the endless sea of green trees, where she would have to make herself comfortable until her last few days. Then, when the moon finally rises eight springs from now, she would finally be free and return to the earth as a seed. For it is said that all living things die, and when they die, they shall return to the earth from whence they come. What happened in between those two points was what determined the outcome: would you be reincarnated to fulfill a previously failed prophecy, or would you become one with peace and eternally live in paradise?

"Well," Gwen thought, "it doesn't matter. Because I still have to get through eight years of exile and helping people. I'm just so scared of the thing to come…and I'll have to face it alone."

…Winter.

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Well, that's the first chapter. Kinda slow starting, I know. Hopefully it'll get better! YAY FOR ACTION!

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	2. And so it starts

Second chapter! Hoo-rah!

* * *

It felt like a large gale, only more condensed and focused on one spot rather than blowing across the great, green plains of Hyrule. Then suddenly the feeling converted to a sort of cold wetness, like laying on the damp soil and grass after nightfall's rain. Seditio giggled a little, slowly awakening from his slumber.

"He-hey," he laughed, "Cut that out! If you wanted me to get up, all you had to do was ask." The emerald fairy smiled and opened his eyes to greet the day. Instead, he gazed at a dark nose of a dog, currently sniffing and nudging him gently. Seditio sprang up, using his wings to propel himself further into the air, away from the rude awakener. The dirty brown dog, probably a stray, stared with large, saddening eyes at Seditio and whimpered softly. The adventurous fairy sighed and lowered himself, hovering at the dog's eyelevel.

"Oh come on, don't be sad. I was just a little startled, that's all," Seditio cooed, stroking the dog gently on the nose. It barked excitedly in response, wagging its tail as if someone had just came by and flicked a large spring, moving back and forth rapidly without sound.

"OK, guess I'll be going! I'll see you around, little dog!" Seditio grinned and blast forth into the sky like a rocket with too much fuel, ready to break the earth's atmosphere in record time. But instead, Seditio hit an overhanging branch with a loud _crack!_ The fairy plummeted to the ground, his wings failing to flap, despite his pained efforts. He screamed out in fear, readying himself for the world of hurt that awaited him with eager arms at the bottom.

Seditio opened his eyes, for he had shut them while falling. He turned to look at his body—nothing seemed to be broken. Then he looked to see what he had landed on. Brown fur like an untamed jungle, with creatures and insects of all kinds waiting inside. Seditio laughed and patted the dog on its side.

"Nice catch! I owe you one," Seditio crawled to the dog's head and peered it in the eyes, the fairy's own eyes twinkling in delight and a sort of pride. The dog barked happily again, its tail continuing the wagging motion. Seditio laughed again, patting the dog softly.

"Well, thanks for the save. Now I really have to get going," Seditio smiled and tried to rocket off again, to feel the wind whip past his face and through his hair but only the sound of a sickening crack and the cold surge of pain flowing in his wings were the only sensations he received. He cried out in anguish, dropping flat on his back and sliding down the dog's neck, back onto its furry back. Once the pain subsided, Seditio gasped for breath and pushed himself into a sitting position. Then it occurred to him: he was no longer in the little hole from last night. And it wasn't even very light outside, despite the fact that it should've been day. And where had the dog come from?

Then Seditio fully noted his surroundings. He wasn't anywhere near where he had been the previous night. There was no grass and the tree he had bumped into turned out not to be a tree. It was really…

"Oh, dear Nayru!" Seditio yelled. He stared at small cage he resided in, his only companion the dog. Now he knew why the dog had been so eager for Seditio to get up and so sad when he had made to leave: it was lonely. The fairy didn't blame the mutt – after a few hours in this thing, it would get very lonely. But another thought hit Seditio, one that made him almost fearful.

"If I'm in a cage," he slowly stated, twirling around, "then where is the cage?" Seditio looked past the bars and nearly fainted. He stared at stone walls on either side of him, rising up to a great height. The cragged, black stones glared at Seditio, daring him to try an escape. Instead the fairy sighed and crossed his arms, speaking to the canine.

"If my wings weren't so injured, I would get out of here. So don't think I'm here just to stay with you!" The dog whimpered and lowered its head, hiding its eyes with its paws. Seditio sighed again and patted the dog on the back. This was going to be a long imprisonment…

* * *

"Good work, my dear comrades." Two females bowed to their leader, both echoing each other's, "An honor to serve you, sir," before they left and closed the door to the dark throne room. It didn't look much different than the cell down in the courtyard, except for that fact that it had a large, oak table which held fruits of all kinds with a half-eaten turkey in the middle. A large man with an ominous face, his dark armor fitting the atmosphere of the place perfectly, cackled as his two servants left the room. He stood and strode across the room, his raven cape flowing behind him, melting in with the floor and seemingly like wings on his back. His dark, silvery hair was the only thing that changed inside the gothic place.

"Now that we have a fairy and a dog, we just need the element of sorrow. After that, it'll be just a bit of waiting till the first snow of winter falls to the ground," the man grinned wickedly, sitting at the oak table and beginning to finish the turkey.

"Then nothing can stop me!"

* * *

Gwen sighed, floating idly in the middle of the Lost Woods. It was a quiet place, with birds chirping and the sounds of water as a water strider skimmed across the glassy surface, skating as if it were ice. Gwen sat down on a small rock, crossing her legs and putting her elbow on her thigh and placing her chin in her hand. She was so bored, just sitting here with nothing to do.

"No!" she suddenly shouted to herself, darting up. "I deserve this, I was exiled! I must be vigilant and help anyone who comes along! I must keep myself alert and never fail!" Gwen fixed her posture and hovered in one spot for a few minutes before she slouched again and descended slowly to the ground below.

"I can't believe this," she managed between whimpers, "Why did he leave me? He could've just stayed with me and I would've told him that the Great Deku Tree knows of stories beyond the forest. Oh, why…" Gwen put her face in her hands and began sobbing, falling to her knees. The greenery of the woods seemed to begin closing in on her, threatening to consume her and leave her in a world of mazes and puzzles. She cried out for anyone to help, for anything…

"Please…don't let me die alone…"

* * *

Seditio sniffed, patting the dog on its head. The canine had fallen asleep and was now snoring softly. Seditio smiled weakly and began talking to himself.

"Let's see, what can we name you? How about Buddy…yeah, that's it! From now on, you're going to be Buddy, got it?" Seditio ran his hands through Buddy's tangled fur. Then he sighed and looked at the walls.

"Anyone…don't let me die alone…"

* * *

Next chapter will have action and adventure, I promise!

Till then folks, I hope you continue to enjoy reading (if you enjoy at all).


	3. Enter the Survival Horror

Hey guys, thanks for the review. Oh, and sudden change...

I'm going to be chaning the genre from Action and Adventure to Horror/Mystery. Cause now that I'm looking at it, it seems more like Resident Evil than Zelda. But that's okay with you guys, right? Oh, and this will also be my first Horror/Mystery story as well as my first Zelda story, so be nice please!

Here we go! In the words of Resident Evil...

Enter the Survival Horror...

* * *

"Sir, we have the blood of the pure!" two women called out, one carrying a glass vial containing blood. It was like most other blood, save the fact that it had a tinge of a whitish-silvery color floating in the center. Like a white blood cell in the veins of a human's body, it lingered there and cleansed the blood of all its corruptions. An eerie ghost caught in a pool of crimson…

"Excellent, put it with the other vials." The servants bowed, once again leaving their master's chamber. He cackled, standing from his throne and crossing over to a hole in the wall, supposedly a window to gaze across his grand desert estate. It was a dark place, with the wind howling across the nearly desolate area. Long ago, it is told, this was once a fortress for an evil man, slain by the hand of a courageous boy. But that legend is long past now, accompanying the wind as it blew across the land, living its last years in the breath and essence of the unseen force.

"Now that we have purity," the man spoke to himself, retreating from the window and sitting upon his throne, "All we have to do is mix the elements and wait for the winds of winter to blow. Then I will have my powerful and eternal reign, and I will send all those who oppose me to the pits of hell!"

* * *

_"The blood of the pure, the tears of the grieving, the hand of the wrathful, the tongue of the deceiving, the form of sedition and the hair of the ignorant. These things create an element of sorrow, casting light into darkness and throwing courage into the flames. Bodies will be littered on the ground while the tears of the shrieking drown the world. Blood will fill the rivers and lakes while depression decays the weak and ravages the hateful. And then, when Sorrow has done its damage, winter will come to earth and cover the crime in a sheet of white, and the world will only hear silence. Once, before the three Goddesses had left the land, they had experienced the same incident. But they had easily thwarted the evil plans of an evil man, sealing him where even the cruelest of villains fear. But now, another is attempting to put this plan into action and the goddesses are no longer here. Seek out the Triforce, Seditio, for that is the only thing that can help. If you fail, then the world will live in an eternal winter-locked earth filled with helplessness and no hero will ever come to stand. Now awaken…"_

Seditio awoke with a start, cold sweat running down his brow. He panted, eyes wide with panic and confusion. The soft snores of Buddy came as a relief to the fairy, letting him know he was still alive and in the same place as before. He sighed and smiled, snuggling up to his new friend. Before he could return to slumber however, the sound of clanking metal alerted him. The wind was now louder than before and shrieking with pain, like a siren looking for a sailor's boat. Seditio stopped breathing and listened intently to the clanking of the metal on stone. _Clank, clank, clank…_

"Sounds like chains," Seditio said to himself. Slowly he rolled over and stared at what once was a stone wall, now replaced by a gap. And within the gap, a shadowy figure stood stalk still, the only movement his chest moving in and out slowly with each of his breaths. Seditio stared in horror as he slowly lumbered toward the cage, the chains on his hands and feet, binding them all together, making a horrible clanking and scraping noise against the cold stone flooring. His green tunic was tattered, his brown buckled boots now ripped and shredded, years of aging apparent. His face was scarred and pale, blank eyes seemingly blind to Seditio but ever aware of his presence all at once. He groaned eerily, like years of torment weighed heavily on his hunched back. Finally, he stopped at the cage and stared down at it, long and yellow toenails scratching at the bars.

"Buddy…Buddy, its time to wake up and get out of here," Seditio lightly poked the dog in the noise, causing it to open its eyes and yawn. It yapped and looked to the fairy before spotting the pale man just in front of its cage. It whimpered softly and began to scoot away slowly, Seditio following suit.

The man in chains groaned in anger, aware of their movements. He raised his shackled hands and struck at the bars of the cage, causing the metal prison to break and allowing the fairy and canine a free chance to escape…if they got past the man.

"Come on Buddy, we're going right now!" Seditio, his wings still injured, climbed onto Buddy's back and kicked the dog on its side. It barked and began to sprint away from the man, closing in on a stone wall. "No Buddy, the other way!" Seditio yelled, pulling on the dog's hair. By now, the man had begun to amble after them, the chains at his feet restraining him from any quick movement. But it didn't stop him from whacking wildly with the oversized cuffs on his wrists. Seditio cried out in terror, Buddy narrowly avoiding two blows from the crazed person.

"Through the hole Buddy, go through the hole!" Seditio pointed at the gap in the wall. Buddy understood and screeched to a sudden stop, turned, and dashed straight through the man's legs, missing two more of his wild shots. The man cried out in frustration, turning around too quickly than his bound feet would allow, causing him to trip and fall to the floor with a thud. Seditio looked back and almost eyed the man with pity, had he not just tried to kill them.

"What in the name of Din is going on here? What is this place anyway?" Seditio now asked himself, staring at the stone corridor. It was dark and foreboding, shadows at every turn. Outside, the storm seemed to be brewing again, this time stronger and fiercer than the last time. Rain could now be heard pouring against the cold, lifeless stone, threatening to drown the outside world. Thunder boomed and lightning cast figures on the walls, the surge of electricity seen from windows high above the fairy's head.

"If only I hadn't hurt my wings so bad, I could just get out of here." Buddy whimpered softly and Seditio sighed, patting the dog. "No, I wouldn't leave you here Buddy. Not that it matters anyway, with that storm going on outside, I'd probably be blown right into a wall like an insect." Suddenly, Seditio shut up. Buddy had stopped moving as well, for on the wall ahead of them, they could see a dark figure moving hastily towards them, with what seemed to be a machete in its hands.

"Oh my God…"

* * *

Gwen was already flying away, desperately trying to escape the grasp of the ghastly figure wrapped in a dark cloak behind her. Lightning surge after lightning surge seemed to try and reach out to shock the poor fairy, who was already crying. The cloaked person or thing behind her shrieked in an earsplitting voice, causing Gwen to tumble to the ground. Now the wind seemed to be working against her, pushing her with all its might towards her pursuer. She cried out in fear, tears streaming down her face, mingling with the rain water as she clawed at the ground, trying to escape. The robe then stopped, looming above her, oblivious to the rain and cold. Gwen stared up, rooted to the spot, staring into the blackness of the empty hood.

"Someone help me!" she cried out, rolling over and trying her best to get back into the air. The wind threw her back down onto her rear, however, and this time closer to the cloak.

_Run…_

Gwen choked back a sob and began rolling away from the sleeves of the cloak as they reached out to suck her into darkness. Once again, the voice shrieked and caused Gwen to cover her sensitive ears. Then it began floating after the escaping fairy, evil cackles erupting from the depths of its bowels. Gwen yelled in terror and shut her eyes, standing to her feet and running wildly, forgetting that she had wings.

"Someone help me! Please, anyone, help!" Gwen tried her best to yell over the deafening roar of thunder and the fatal shrieks of the cloaked siren which was gaining fast behind her. She hit the ground, covering her neck with her arms and shielding her head with her hands. The siren flew right above her, overshooting the fairy. It tried to stop and ended up tumbling clumsily down a small hill. Gwen stood and remembered she had wings, using them to hover into the air. From there, she let the wind push her in any direction, as long as it was away from the siren.

"Why was it after me? One minute," Gwen sniffed, wiping her eyes to clear the tears and rain, "I was sitting on a stump and the next, a cloaked thing began chasing me! Why, oh why…"

With a sudden thump, Gwen hit a stone wall. She slid down the cold stones and landed on her rear end, staring up at a massive building. It was magnificent in the sense that it was enormous, but all the same, foreboding and scary. Gwen decided to stay away from this place, turning around to find some other type of shelter. But the distant shrieking of the siren caused her to rethink her decision and she flew up and into the nearest hole in the wall.

"I hope the person who lives here doesn't mind if I stay here for awhile…"

* * *

Uh-oh...

Well, next chapter soon folks! Hope you enjoy!


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